The recent Opiod crisis has sparked a huge conversation about addiction in this country. After hearing countless terrifying stories of young people dying due to their drug addictions, I thanked my lucky stars that I wasn't addicted to anything. But then I got to thinking, I may not be addicted to drugs but I definitely am addicted to something. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines addiction as "the compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance ". For me, and for most of us, that substance is sugar.
To really determine the extent of my addiction and to prove to myself that sugar doesn't control my life, I decided to cut it out of my diet for 1 week. It doesn't seem like a long time, but trust me, it is. In just 1 week I realized how prevalent sugar is in our everyday lives, not just in the 3 meals of the day, but in every waking moment.
Sugar isn't just in the typical "sweet foods" we eat for dessert. I have come to learn that sugar is in pretty much every packaged or processed food on the shelves of the grocery store. You must be thinking, "I don't eat that much sugar, I eat healthy foods". I thought that too. But, I soon discovered that the "healthy" bread I use to make avocado toast in the morning has sugar, the dressing I put on my "healthy" salad at lunch has sugar, and the (not-so-healthy) pasta sauce I have at dinner also has sugar. It's everywhere.
On day 3 of my sugar-free diet, I felt awful. I was cranky, tired, sad, and irritable. I couldn't believe it but I was actually experiencing withdrawals. I found myself trying to reason and find excuses why I needed sugar, "this chicken is so bland without ketchup" - yup even your favorite condiment has sugar in it - "I've had such a rough day, I deserve some sugar!". I couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard I tried.
To make matters worse, I came to acknowledge that as young people our socialization revolves completely around food. Being invited to get ice cream, to Chipotle, to breakfast, to dinner, to the beach, to the movies - literally any activity I could think of, not only involves food but involves sugar.
I admit it, I have an addiction. Although sugar isn't a drug like heroin or narcotics, it definitely mirrors the same psychological and physical effects, but to a lesser extent. Our reward pathways are altered and we develop a tolerance for it, so it requires a larger amount to get the same feeling of joy from it. If you want to know how much sugar controls your life, try cutting it out for a week. It's a lot harder than it seems but it's worth it!
